Missing the point

PUBLISHED: 14:55 07 August 2009 | UPDATED: 11:33 10 June 2010

IN response to vitriol in your letters page last week, withheld should realise the depth of feeling towards destroying the coastal views in Budleigh Salterton by allowing the development of the Longboat Cafe.

IN response to 'vitriol' in your letters page last week, 'withheld' should realise the depth of feeling towards destroying the coastal views in Budleigh Salterton by allowing the development of the Longboat Cafe.

'Withheld' has missed the point, as have so many others. The town's pubs and restaurants do not mask the beauty of the coastline, like the planned Longboat Cafe will.

We, who are against this development, realise that it will set a precedent for others and, in time, there will be more and more buildings and it will become an extention of the high street, as in other towns down the ages.

Rather than getting into semantics about playing by the verbal rules, I feel it is important for the owners to realise they are proposing to take away some of the view so a select few have a better 'dining experience'.

If this is the case, let's build blocks of flats to the side of the restaurant so the punters do not need to walk so far - ridiculous, of course, as is putting a glorified diner in an area of such natural beauty.

Let's keep the reality of the situation at the fore here. Buildings attract other buildings - you cannot say yes to some and no to others because you set precedents and people go to court and win because of them. Why anyone would want to spoil our beach views is beyond me. Is that showing respect to this and future generations? No, it's not!